Data Backups

[Maf. King]

On Saturday 21 Apr 2007, linuxforrealpeople wrote:
> My apologies if this question has already been asked, albeit from a
> different angle. I am trying to work out what files I should backup to
> preserve my data. I seem to have a GZIP Archive file, sundry application
> logs and varous GnuCash spreadsheets.
> Am I right in thinking the GZIP Archive is the one to backup.
> I presume that the application logs can be deleted. Why are they kept? Is
> it so you can roll forward from an old data file.
>
> Many Thanks in advance.

Hi Martin,

The master data file is the _only_ data file you need to back up.  Depending 
on your prefs set in GC, this will either be a xml file, or if you have 
selected to compress the data file, then yes, it is a gzipped file.
Note, though, that any custom reports are in (IIRC) 
~/.gnucash/saved-reports-2.0 and that these reports are not tied to the data 
file in any way.

Going back to your data file, there are also data backups, which will have the 
same base name as the master data file, with a timestamp appended.  these are 
created automatically by GC on every file save.  The log files are created to 
reflect the changes between saves, the idea being that in the event of a 
crash, you can roll back to known good data. There is an option for the 
number of days to keep these logs and backups.

There are also a couple of lock files which exist only when GC actively has 
the data file open, again, these can be disregarded in normal use.

HTH,
Maf.